A Way to Fall
by Naowt
Summary: Detective Midoriya Izuku had come a long way since that day at school ten years ago. The world changed, the League of Villains came and went like a nightmare, UA spawned it's finest heroes of a generation. But a plan ten years in the making is surfacing, and it will change the world as all know it. [Aged up characters. Quirkless Izuku].
1. Chapter 1

Time, as it did, moved on from that evening on the rooftop. It wasn't a long way down, just the top of the school roof, but it would have been enough. Izuku was never sure what made him step away from the edge, but he returned home late that night after spending hours on the beach, watching the waves atop a rusted refrigerator. It all blurred together over the years, yet the image of the moon shining off the endless body of water remained. In his mind it was a full moon.

His pencil slipped out of his hand and clattered on the desk, breaking him from his trance. Slowly, the sounds of the station came back one by one. The clattering of keyboards, voices loud and quiet, molding together into a collective murmur known as 'busy'. No wonder he zoned out.

There was a steady ringing that grew louder and he realised it was his phone. He scrambled to reach it, tapping the screen just in time. "Detective Midoriya!"

"_Midoriya, nice to hear you. How are you?_"

He recognised the voice immediately. Lemillion. The number one hero probably called Izuku more than his own mother did. "I'm doing fine, Lemillion. Yourself?"

"_Just fine. Now that's out the way, I was wondering where you are with the investigation_."

Ah yes, the investigation. Izuku looked down at the open file he almost slept on. A few pages and a whole lot of nothing except a few doodles. His witnesses hadn't given him anything useful and any potential leads were either in jail or hospitalised. The current generation of heroes weren't making his job any easier, and no matter how much Lemillion wanted to find an answer to the growing villain problem, the man was being more of a hindrance than a help.

But what could Izuku say to the Symbol of Peace?

"I might have something," Izuku said, flipping to his most recent page, sliding out a hotel reservation sheet. "It just needs a bit more digging." He wasn't going to say he had a pretty good guess at where some villains would be meeting up later that night. Afterall, it was a guess, a rough triangulation of movements. And he didn't want the hero busting it wide open to arrest everyone. Not like last time.

"_You be sure to tell me if you find something, Midoriya. We're closing in on them, I can feel it._"

Izuku leaned back in his chair. "Absolutely, you'll be the first to know."

"_I hope so. So long, Midoriya._"

"See y-" Izuku pulled the phone away and saw that, yes, he was hung up on. He sighed and frowned, putting his phone back. It was worse than last time.

"Keiko-san, I'm stepping out for the day," he said as he stood, file in hand and jacket half on.

The floor's mousy receptionist jumped, her big round ears twitching. "And w-where are you going, sir?"

He was by the door at this point. "I'm looking up something. If the boss really wants to know tell him to use the key for my drawer." The mousy girl nodded, writing on some paper. "And Keiko... Don't stutter so much."

* * *

The hotel was a dive. A nice looking dive which looked amazing, until you hit the pool and found it full of dirt and a strange yellow tint. The walls were plastered neatly in the hallway and the foyer was a nice, standard set up of modern and classic. The rooms, however, left a lot to be desired; mold, unclean sheets and stains of various colours. He hoped it was from food.

It was a good thing it was coming out of the Force's pocket. To think, one time he was going to take his ex here.

Rubbing his face, Izuku slipped his bag off his shoulder and took off his jacket. He didn't turn the TV on (the robbers were charging for every five minutes), instead he switched on the radio on his phone and placed it on the table near the window. Pulling over the only chair in the room, he made a nice little set up by the window, with a perfect view of the square below. Finding a comfy spot, he pulled his canteen out his bag and took a sip of coffee. Still warm.

Time to settle in.

The hours, as usual, passed slowly. Stakeouts were as bad as media displayed them. Sure, he could have got there closer to the time, but the meeting may have changed, and some suspects may have been missed. So far there was nothing, but the fact there _could_ be something was enough to trigger his detail-hungry brain.

It took until the last sip of his now lukewarm coffee for it all to start. A few jobbers at first, obviously villainous but without a record. They filtered in from various side streets, looking over shoulders, pretending to be on a night out as they cheered and faked drunkenness.

Izuku rummaged through his bag for his binoculars, bringing them up in time to see the side profile of the bald face that had been staring at him the past week. "Gotcha."

Another five minutes and another one showed up, sporting multi-coloured feathers for hair. Then the guy with a hand for a mouth.

One by one they slipped into an alley out of his view, and the moment they disappeared was when Izuku cursed himself. He was moving before he knew it again. There was a reason he chose this room besides its view: the fire escape that ran down the side of the building. He slid open the window and stepped outside, pulling his bag through and throwing it onto the building across. He didn't need the extra weight for what he was going to try next.

With a precarious balance on the creaky, rusty, swaying, ready to fall…

He squeezed his eyes shut. No, no more thinking. Just jump Izuku. Remember when you were ready to that day? Yeah, he did remember, that's where his fear of heights came from.

Another creak from the railing sprung his legs into action and he cleared the gap between the buildings, landing on the roof of some offices. He was panting, sweating, rubbing his eyes to clear the fuzz that was closing in.

Come on Izuku, this is hardly the worst moment you've had. Remember your first date? You thought it was a good idea to take her on the ferris wheel, where you passed out after reaching the top.

Yes, he remembered. It was embarrassing enough for him to stand and keep moving. He had a job to do. He could worry about how he compartmentalised things so well they were talking to him later.

He and his trusty bag cleared another gap and he was there, watching the last of the villains walk through a partition in the wall before it closed behind them. An elevator then. The building he was on was a pharmacy, and a small one at that. No room for a top secret villain meeting.

There was a guard, standing with his arms crossed, scanning the area, looking left and right. A shame he wasn't looking up.

Izuku jammed the hook end of his grapple into the roof and clipped the handle onto his belt. Making sure his bag didn't rattle, he slowly abseiled down a few stories, eyes closed and heart racing, only taking quick peeps below to measure the distance. Another shuffle and he was in position.

He dangled the bag from his hand and dropped it. It was as if a toolbox fell on the guard's head and he crumpled without a noise. Izuku's bag, however, sounded _just like_ a falling toolbox, the clatter of equipment echoing in the alley. It only made him move quicker and he jumped his way down before hastily unclipping the wire.

Next, he felt along the wall, stopping at a slight bump in the brick work. The panel flipped, revealing a handprint scanner. Luckily, the guard didn't fall too far away, because he weighed a ton, and lifting his arm took most of Izuku's strength. It worked though, and the panel flashed green, opening the elevator.

He went inside.

The descent was slow, or was it long? The cables hummed and the walls sweated with humidity. There was a trapped smell of chemicals, somewhat like a hospital. It nipped at his nose. When it finally stopped and the door opened, he was assaulted by it. His eyes stung, his throat burned and he barely had enough time to squint through his blurry vision at two shocked guards. His hand moved.

The guard on the right moved first and fell just as quickly. His arm speared forward, fingers sharpening into a needle point, directly on course for Izuku's head. Izuku ducked, reaching for the holster on his thigh and drawing his pistol. The barrel flickered an electric blue and he slammed it into the villain's ribs.

The man convulsed as his body was covered in lightning. The strong attack shook the other villain, and Izuku fired a shock round into his chest. They were both out in a second.

Wiping the last of the blurriness away, Izuku scanned the area. Tunnels lined with pipes went left and right, dimly lit by small lights in the concrete ceiling. He followed the distant murmurs of a crowd and went right, handgun drawn and bag hanging over his shoulder.

It was an eventless walk. No guards, no traps. Whoever was in charge was confident in their operation and Izuku wondered just how long they had this base setup for. When he got to the main hall, his question was answered.

It was huge, a factory under the ground. Conveyor belts moved equipment overhead, machines crafted what looked like small capsules in massive quantities before moving along the line into the next room. The acrid smell was stronger, concentrated, like a thick medicine and the air was hot and heavy. With over a hundred villains gathered below, it made the air feel electric, as if a spark could set the whole place alight.

If he was a lesser man, he'd have been tempted.

He was glad he left his jacket at the hotel as the minutes ticked by. The villains below were uncomfortable too, but they were smiling, bumping shoulders and smiling wider, sharing whispers. The fact there were so many villains in one room and not a single scowl or fight set alarms off in his head.

The was a clinking on the catwalk above the main floor. Two men dressed like plague doctors entered from the side and stood by the main staircase. The crowd hushed. The machines stopped. Izuku ducked lower and slowed his breath.

One, two, one, two. Even, unhurried, a form came from the overlooking office. Her face was serene, heart-shaped, unblemished. Long, white hair flowed to her waist. She couldn't have been out of high school yet, Izuku saw from her short stature and white summer dress. She kept her eyes closed as she danced down the stairs, a small hop to her step as her fingers tapped the railings. She glided between the plague doctors, coming to a gentle stop.

Her eyes opened.

Red. Izuku couldn't place if they were closer to ruby or blood, but they completed her face. The serene, child-like air was replaced by something Izuku had seen many times over his years as a detective; beneath the mask, she was well and truly disturbed, familiar with death.

He wasn't sure when he could finally see that look in people, but the fact they had snapped at some point became obvious. Some heroes wore it, some villains did too. It was as if they saw people as what they were: animated slabs of meat. Izuku was sure he had the same look, but he never noticed it in a mirror.

The crowd was silent now, looking up to her as if she was their salvation. "Brothers, sisters. Welcome." There was no roar of approval. "Tonight we gather to celebrate our victory." Definitely a kid, her voice was light and airy. "It is not a victory over a battle, but a quiet one."

She held out her hand and the plague doctor on the right handed her a phial. "For tonight, we harbingers of death can confirm step one is complete. This is the key to our rebirth." She held the phial aloft and some villains followed suit, as if to grasp it themselves. "Blood has been spilled. Brothers and sisters have been lost. But we remain. After everything the _heroes_ have thrown at us, we remain. And no matter what they do next, we will remain!"

It was the first time she raised her voice. It was almost hysterical.

"Heroes like Lemillion believe they can create a perfect society, but what of those who aren't perfect? The ones who destroy, the ones who are different? We refuse this society they wish to create. We will destroy this wretched world and remake it. A world where all are free and all are clean! A world we can be our own true selves!"

The took a breath and the crowd screamed. Izuku had to cover his ears as it bounced around the room. This was insane. He'd watched old videos on cults before the dawn of quirks, but they were never this frantic, this possessed, at least as far as he knew. Whoever this girl was, she was the light of their world, the messenger of a god they had created. It was possible she had a mind controlling quirk, but either option meant she was extremely dangerous.

Izuku peered over his cover and met red eyes. She smiled.

"Shit."

Without word the villains turned. Without word they moved, picking up speed as Izuku bolted. He was almost out the hall when something wrapped around his leg and pulled. He landed awkwardly on his shoulder and cursed, his bag falling beside him. A villain with stretched out arms smiled toothily as he dragged Izuku closer. Izuku grit his teeth and drew his gun, shooting the villain in the chest.

He shook as the volts went through him and his arm relaxed. Izuku scrambled up and kept going.

Hundred of footsteps were behind him now and he fired round after round behind him, not even bothering to look as he tried to remember the way back to the elevator. Corridors wound, pipes looked the same. The stampede got closer. Something shot by him and nicked his ear. Another shot sank into his shoulder and he dropped his gun.

It was empty anyway.

He turned a corner and came to a corridor with a door at the end. He slammed into the wall, no time to stop his momentum as he hurried down the dim passageway. He threw himself against the door, pushing the bar in, only to find it was locked.

He reached into his bag and pulled out his shotgun. He didn't call it his bag of tricks for nothing. Just as he pumped it he was knocked to the side, and he emptied the shell into his attacker instead. The concussive force knocked him into his friends and the tazing rounds put him down.

The lights flickered as more bodies filled the corridor. Faces round, spiked, deformed melded into one as arms reached through where they could. They wanted him. They wanted him dead.

The motions came easy despite his terror-stricken mind. Pump, fire, pump, fire. The elector pellets spread out, catching two, sometimes three villains. Some went down, others shook it off. Round after round thinned out the weaklings until only the skilled and the heavy hitters remained. Of that wave at least.

A villain with a bull for a head charged, and Izuku realised he was out of ammo at the last second. He was picked up and slammed through the door, barely avoiding being gored by the villain's horns. His bag was pierced, but it made it easier to reach in and hook his hand into a glove.

It was nothing special, but it was one of the first things in his arsenal. Stung gloves with enough voltage to put anyone down. All it needed was duration. And so he grabbed the villain's shoulder, holding on as his back was slammed against a wall. Something in Izuku shifted and twinged, but he held on.

The bull villain yelled, deep and rumbling as electricity arched off his shoulders. Izuku grit his teeth as massive hands clamped around his ribs, cracking them and sending a buzz up and down his spine. He snaked his other hand into his bag and shuffled into his second glove, slapping it onto the villain's side. They both screamed, but the villain went down first.

Izuku struggled to breath as he stood back up, but the villains were still closing in. he turned the dials on top of his gloves and activated the current, blue arcs covering his hands.

One villain tried a straight. Izuku slipped and countered, pressing a palm into the woman's stomach. The next went for a head kick. Izuku grabbed her foot and shocked her from there. The next villain, a round blob of a man, thought he could charge through. Izuku clapped his hands together and pushed the air, sending a strike through the tunnel that toppled the man over onto a outcropped pipe. The charge sparked from his body and ran along the metal, zapping the hallway and the villains inside. Yet they didn't retreat. They kept going, a devotion and madness in their eyes as they fought through the pain. Some were dribbling, others were crawling.

Izuku stopped the charge and the villains stood, glaring at him until they dropped one by one. More footsteps were bouncing through the tunnels and Izuku kept moving, securing his now ruined bag with one arm and clutching his right ribs with the other. They were definitely broken.

He reached the elevator, but it wasn't the direction he set off from. There were no guards stationed, which Izuku thought was odd, but he counted his blessings and jogged in, slamming the button to go back to the surface. He slumped against the wall.

This was insane. It was beyond anything he could think of. A crime syndicate wasn't new and neither was a league of villains. Even god-like quirks were familiar to the world at this point, but being right in the middle of a cult meeting with hundreds of devoted members inside a fully operational factory took the cake for Izuku. The girl with red eyes wasn't just speaking about war, she was ready for it.

He couldn't keep this to himself. He needed to report it. But first he had to make sure he didn't die of internal bleeding.

The elevator opened and the guard was still unconscious. Izuku's grapple handle was still dangling. He grabbed it and pressed the quick reel to shoot him back up onto the roof. He screamed through his teeth the whole way and grunted when he rolled onto the roof. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and hit number one on speed dial. He knew she wouldn't be asleep.

"_Izu-kun! It's about time you called, our babies have been missing you!"_

"Hey Mei." It hurt to breathe, but breathy was all he could be. "I could use your help. Think I've punctured a lung."

She tutted. "_Help's on the way. I'm guessing you don't want to go to a hospital._"

"You know me so well."

A sigh and a ring tone was all he got back.

* * *

Hatsume Mei's workshop wasn't as grand as the media thought. Only a few heroes go to see where her babies were made and most didn't come back for a second visit. It was a mess, as expected if you knew the eccentric genius. It was hard to believe she alone could rival I-Island's greatest creations. His bag of tricks was all thanks to her.

He grunted as a machine poked at his ribs, setting the bone back into place.

"I'm getting tired of this, Izu-kun. How can I make my babies if you keep showing up?"

"Thanks for your help, Mei. I don't know where I'd be without you."

"You'd be a cripple, that's what. At least I'd be able to keep you here with me. That brain of yours is too useful." She fiddles around in a box and pulled out a syringe. She kept a sterile area just for him. The injection made his arm numb and he knew it would be aching in a few hours. Writing up reports was off the table. She injected him again, but kept her grip on his shoulder. Concern was in her crosshaired eyes.

"Honestly, Izuku. This needs to stop. You've been here four times this month and this isn't the worst it's been. I'm starting to think… I'm starting to think you don't want to be on this world."

Guilt slammed his chest. It hurt almost as much as the fracture. "Mei…"

"Just tell me you aren't going to do something stupid."

He'd had that phase before. His body wouldn't let him give up. "It's not like that. Look, Lemillion - "

"Screw Lemillion!" He saw her eyes zoom in. "That man uses you like a dog! If he's so damn great, he could do it himself!"

"He's not suited to stuff like this."

"And you're not suited for fighting groups of villains, even with my babies."

It was a blow to his pride, his shriveled dream of being a hero. "There were a lot of them, okay?"

"Not okay! You need to know your limits."

"It's different this time!" His chest ached, but the painkillers had finally kicked in. "There were hundreds of them, Mei. _Hundreds_. They've got it in their head that they're the harbingers of a new age. They're _crazy_." She had taken a step back. "But what their leader said felt possible. They have a plan, Mei, and I don't know how long they've had or how close they are to finishing it. This is League of Villains level."

"And you think you can take this alone?"

"No. I'm going straight to the office with this. I'm going to Lemillion. He could bust this thing wide open. An army against an army, problem solved."

She took a step back. "If you're sure…"

"I am sure."

She deflated and sat in a ripped up chair by the bed. She held his hand, and he felt better. He wondered why they had stayed friends for all these years and not become something more. They'd proven they could make time.

It looked like she was thinking the same thing as she stared into his eyes. "Just stay here with me. We could invent together, help people together. You don't have to do it alone."

It was tempting. She had shown him that he could do more than shake a gun around and arrest people. She showed him he could make things, use his mind to make steel move. Some heroes were wearing gear he designed and they would never know. She made him wish he had eyes for the support course in his teenage years.

She'd done a lot of things for him. But he couldn't do anything for her. He was still useless.

"I have to finish this case Mei - "

She stepped back, eyes narrowed. "Don't say any more. You can see yourself out once the recovery bot is done." She stepped away into the darkness of her workshop, leaving an Izuku who felt like shit behind.

So, an hour later, he did as she instructed and left, picking up a new and replenished bag by the door. A note was attached to the strap: _I'm sorry. Don't die out there._

He'd try.

* * *

It was about six thirty when he left Mei's workshop. A few exhausted looking business men were dragging themselves home, a few hardworking ones were heading to work. Shops were getting ready for the morning rush and some were on morning runs. Construction workers lined up at a building site for the morning's brief.

And the monitors still turned. One of Lemillion's more controversial acts as number one hero: somewhat hastily constructed outposts manned by his rapidly growing agency. Sidekicks were never short of work and if they were, another monitor was made. They kept an eye out for villainous activity, cut down the need for police patrols, and reduced crime by twenty percent. After a couple of years people ignored the breach of privacy all the cameras gave. Personally, Izuku wasn't a fan. Plenty of false arrests were made and people were a lot more skittish when they passed by one.

When he reached the station there were three people in the office. Keiko didn't start until eight, but there was a a who seemed to live at the station. His old partner, Hitoshi Shinso, the one man in the world who looked more tired than Izuku was, was leaning on his desk, like he expected Izuku to come in at that exact time.

"Thought you'd be quicker." At Izuku's confused head tilt, he continued. "Hatsume called. Wanted to make sure you got back okay."

Izuku shuffled over to his chair and dropped into it.

"She also said you had something important." Izuku had gone to collect his things from the hotel, including the file he slid over to Shinso. He picked it up and scanned through it, eyes widening. "And you didn't come to me with this sooner because?"

"You were busy with more important things. This was just a hunch."

"You never spend this much time on a hunch."

"Well it's a good thing I did." Izuku was voice recording the villain meeting and as he played it back the office went silent, heads turning as they started their day. "That was last night."

The boss was out of his office, a frown on his face, his grey hair lines sharper in the morning light. "Lemillion's on his way. And you're going to tell us everything you know, Midoriya. And don't think about lying."

Naomasa didn't have to flex his quirk to Izuku. He'd written it down back in police academy, as well as its weaknesses. Conviction in what you said was key. "You'll get all I have. This is way too big for anyone to handle alone."

"Not everyone."

The attention of the room shifted from Izuku to the radiant gold of Lemillion, his cape flowing and hair bouncing. He towered over others in the room by at least a foot. His eyes were smoldering as he approached Izuku's desk.

"You said you'd tell me everything you knew. If you planned on infiltrating a villain hideout, you should have told me."

"It was supposed to be minor."

"You still should have reported it! Villains, no matter how small, must face justice!" Lemillion looked down at Izuku, but the detective was far too tired to feel the weight of the hero's stare. "Tell me, Midoriya. Tell me about their leader."

Izuku sighed. His younger self would have been a stuttering, non-functioning mess with all the pressure.

"She has red eyes…"

* * *

**A/N:** This is a rebirth of one of my other stories. It'll only go up to around five or six chapters, so it'll be a nice short story. Let me know if you enjoyed it and have a good day. see you all next time! Feel free to guess what's going to happen in the story, I'd love to hear it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Graphic scenes.**

* * *

_Shinso Hitoshi- 23:50 - Saturday_

Hitoshi did feel sorry for his old partner as he was suspended. After they squeezed Midoriya for every scrap of information he had, they sent him home, with orders not to come back for the rest of the month to 're-evaluate his choices'. Being a wild card for so long had finally caught up to him.

Lemillion was rounding up a posse of heroes for simultaneous strikes at all of Midoriya's locations. The detective had tried to put a word in, advising them to hold back. Lemillion's stare was enough to take that argument away. Then the storm that was the number one hero left the station and life returned to what it was; Midoriya was kicked out, everyone watched him go, neutral, the detective never made any friends, just like Hitoshi.

People got back to work, he got back on his case. Somehow, over the past years, he'd become a narcotic expert and was the station's go-to guy if you had a lead. Nine times out of ten, it led to a drug bust. He almost missed his days on the beat, him and Midoriya pushing the boundaries of what cops should do to play at their broken dreams of being pro heroes.

He followed the thunderous music to the club. Neon lined the entrance, a large line of people in their shortest and most stylish clothes. They were holding their arms and smiling as they pretended the autumn breeze wasn't bothering them. Two bouncers were at the door. Shinso ignored the line and walked to the door.

"Are you guys going to let me in?"

They took a step. "Like he-" Their eyes glazed over.

Shinso smirked and entered. Another bouncer stepped up to him on the way through, but with an answer he backed away. A second door led the the club proper and as it was pulled aside for him, Shinso was blasted by music. It pounded, it thrummed, it vibrated his bones and threw him off balance. He was a quiet man who liked quiet places. Why did drug dealers live in clubs? There couldn't be one who was a fan of tea ceremonies?

There was an artificial smell in the air to cover the smell of sweat and alcohol. Lavender, he thought. It also made his throat dry and he ached for a drink, the managers were clever like that.

The club had two levels, with a bar on each. The top was where he entered, where most of the seats were. Below was the dancefloor, packed to the brim with bumping and grinding. Across the way from him, on the other side of the second floor, was his target. Kaneshiro. The guy was too big to take down, his money was in every pocket and the few times he was convicted it was for a few months. He used the time to expand his connections. Eventually they gave up, instead going to him for information on his rivals. Shinso never bothered meeting the man before, but all his leads were pointing to the sharply dressed man.

He got a few odd looks as he passed through the milling crowds. He was too busy trying not to inhale the copious amount of vaping clouds that hung like an ozone to bother. He wasn't going for a quiet approach anyway.

Kaneshiro's table had enough room for three people only. Shinso thought it'd be bigger. The man himself was dressed in a white suit and was rather plain looking, like an average office worker, a little on the scrawny side. His bodyguards were a different breed altogether. Corded muscle threaded their arms and strained against their red shirts, winding up their neck. It was an anatomist's dream. They barely tensed as Shinso approached.

"Kaneshiro."

"Police man," the crime lord said with a tip of his drink. "Take a seat." The guards moved aside. As Shinso passed them, they barred the way out and just like that he was in the lion's den. "I've heard your name before, but never seen your face. Your police friends have a lot to say about you."

"Not a lot, I hope," Shinso said, waving away a waitress with a drink. The bass hammered in through the seat.

"It was enough."

Shinso hummed. The guy probably knew his quirk then. Strobes danced along the table, making Kaneshiro frown. "I thought I told them no lights!" One of the guards put a finger to his ear and mumbled. "Hate these damn places."

"Me too," Shinso agreed, pulling out his own flask and taking a sip. Coffee. He needed it for the long night ahead. The guards didn't react to him reaching into his jacket. "Yet here we are."

"Unfortunately, lots of people I'm acquainted with love these damn light boxes. Think it's cool. You know what else is cool? A five star restaurant where they give you foot massages." He closed his eyes and leaned back. Shinso almost felt he was there with him. "But, we must conduct business here. So let's get to it."

"Been hearing of a new drug on the scene. It's got a lot of people spooked and I hear you're one of them."

The drug lord nodded and took another sip of his drink. The little umbrella rattle around the ice. "It has me spooked because they're giving it away for free."

Shinso's eyes widened. "And who are _they_?"

"I'm not sure. Could be a lot of people, but these guys are up to no good."

Shinso pushed down a scoff. "You guys run drug empires. None of you are up to good."

Kaneshiro laughed. "That's true. But we buy and sell, like real capitalists. We need to keep the market varied, but we don't want to lose customers. This thing these guys are pumping out is changing people. Makes them catatonic, vegetables. And they don't recover. That's bad business."

Shinso leaned back in the, admittedly comfy, couch. "Can't say we've heard of any cases of that."

Kaneshiro rolled his eyes. "Not surprised. These people who've taken this stuff go missing after a day. Sometimes straight out of the waiting room. Happened to one of my guys." The white-suited man leaned forward. "The last time something this fishy happened, the League of Villains burst from the woodwork. Neither of us want that nightmare again."

Shinso soured at the memories that came back. He was in the school when…

"So I'll help you out, as long as you help me out."

The information Shinso gained was more than he'd managed to get over a week, but more would always help, especially with what Kaneshiro was implying. The man was many things: a torturer, murderer, drug dealer, but he wasn't a liar. He knew that to gain what he wants, he'd have to bend the truth instead of making an empire of lies. You could attach things to his name, and that made him powerful.

"What can I do for you?"

Kaneshiro smiled, looking somewhat relieved. "If you get a hit from what I give you, you turn a blind eye to my guys for a few weeks. You give my profits a sizeable hit you see. It'll feel good to have the old days back, if only for a while."

Shinso closed his eyes, fighting back his heroic urges. Being around Midoriya didn't help one bit with forgetting the pursuit of undeniable good. But they were both older now, jaded. Shinso could ignore it for the greater good. He opened his eyes to the hazy air of the club. "You've got a deal."

Kaneshiro beamed and reached over the table. "I knew you were a man of reason."

Shinso shook the man's hand, not feeling as slimy as he thought he would. It felt like he'd made the best choice, letting more drugs run through the city. At least these ones wouldn't kill people right away. He'd work double to catch up.

"Kaneshiro?" A voice came from behind the guards. Kaneshiro's hand snapped back.

"You brought someone with you?" he hissed.

Shinso could only shake his head when the drug lord's shoulder erupted with blood. The crack of the gun barely registered as Shinso's adrenaline kicked in. He got down, the sounds of music replaced by screams, the cracking of more shots.

One of the bodyguards' shoulders snapped back, then his body, then his head and he collapsed into a pool of his own blood. Shinso could see his dull eyes. The other guard finally grabbed the shooter by the neck.

"Deliverance!" The woman shouted before her neck was snapped. There was a distant bang and the other guard went down much like his friend. Shinso scrambled over to Kaneshiro as gunshots split the air. The man was alive, but clutching his shoulder with a heavy wince.

"We need to leave."

"No shit!"

Shinso drew his stun pistol, courtesy of Midoriya's crazy not-girlfriend. He was honestly wishing he had the real thing right now. Another shooter came to the booth, dressed just like a regular party-goer, pistol in hand. He saw them easily. He aimed. Shinso was quicker.

The round sent the man jittering onto the floor, or rather some bodies. People were still running for the exit, bottlenecking in panic. "Is there a back exit?"

Kaneshiro nodded and pointed to the bar. "Private room behind the staff room. Got a quick escape."

"Good, we're moving." Shinso ignored the man's protests as he hoisted him up over his shoulder and hurried to the bar on the far side of the room. They were spotted again.

"There!" A man with a rifle shouted. "A poisoner still lives!"

A bodyguard of another drug lord must have been missed because he rose from the bodies and tackled the man to the ground, wrestling for the weapon. Shinso took the chance to stumble on.

Two gunmen turned their attention. Two shots to the one on the right, one for the left. His training course with Snipe was kicking in.

A click.

Shinso pulled Kaneshiro down with him and barely dodged a burst of bullets. Shinso turned and fired, dropping another. Kaneshiro screamed as he was pulled back up.

They got to the bar in another few hurried strides, Shinso willing himself not to look down. He opened the staff door and pulled back when he saw the glint of a gun. The door came apart in splinters just where his head had been. He set Kaneshiro down. "You wait for my signal!"

He positioned himself by the door. "What do you people want?!"

"We will see the - "

"Drop your weapon!" Shinso heard the sounds of confusion from the others as the gun clattered to the floor. He burst through the door. Four people, two women, one unarmed, under his control, the men turning. "Grab your friend!" The woman moved as Shinso fired at the men, covering his retreat to an upturned table.

Bullets trailed behind him.

"Let go of me, sister!"

Shots hammered against the metal. A pause. Shinso fired his last two shots blindly over the top of the table. He hit one. He reloaded. "Maybe it's time for you to give up?!"

"Neve - "

Shinso smiled. Got him. He popped up and fired two shots at the man's chest, another at his fallen friend, and two at the women. The current shocked the both of them into unconsciousness. "Kaneshiro!"

He stumbled in and Shinso continued to the private room. A form came from around the door. Shinso grabbed the arm and threw the man over his shoulder, firing a round. Another came, a front kick to the stomach and another to the head.

Two shots for the guy near the exit.

"Clear!" Kaneshiro was struggling to move so Shinso supported him again. The room was littered with bodies. Powders and needles were on blood drenched tables, the royal blue furniture turned purple. They never knew what hit them.

The exit hadn't been opened yet, so he cracked the lock and exited to the metal staircase that led down to an alley. "You have a ride?"

"I called for one. At the bar." He was breathing hard.

"Might be better getting you to a hospital."

"They've got a bed... waiting for me. Luxuries of money, eh?"

Forms silhouetted against the neon glow of the city. "Get down!"

The railings sparked as bullets ricocheted. Pain flared on Shinso's thigh. The flurry paused for a second before another began. Shinso closed his eyes and gripped his gun. He was back at UA, crawling, blood trailing behind as the rebar shifted in his stomach. He could feel it, he could feel his insides. His classmates were moaning, the walls were crumbled. He -

Sirens echoed and gunfire increased. The pinging of metal stopped and Shinso's panicked eyes snapped open. Red and blue were flashing against the alley walls. They were okay. They were saved. He raised his voice first, not wanting to spook some twitchy officers. Quirks flared in the distance. The heroes had arrived too.

"It's detective Shinso Hitoshi! I've been hit, have an injured here too!" He looked behind him to the drug lord. His chest was full of holes and blood leaked from his throat. "Shit." The police were moving in now, but their voice was muffled by the ringing in his ears. "Shit!"

* * *

_Midoriya Izuku - 07:00 - Sunday_

He had a hard time sleeping. Without work to occupy him, there was little to hold back the memories of the Villain Uprising. He couldn't drown himself in case files until he passed out from exhaustion. He had to find a way to keep himself occupied, and as soon as he was kicked out of work, he called Mei on instinct. She, unfortunately, had little going on - in her eyes at least. Turned out she was working on a new suit of armour for Ingenium when he showed.

She was still working when he awoke from another thirty minute attempt at sleep. She was moving between blueprints, monitors and the skeleton of the armour, a serious look on her face, but a glint in her eye. She was more enthusiastic when he met her in police academy, but her love of her creations never faded. They just meant a whole lot more now she was the leading forefront of hero tech.

"Up again?" She asked, eyes zooming in on the armour.

"Yeah. Think that was my last try."

"Being fired bothered you that much, huh?"

"I wasn't fired." Damn close to it though. The boss had been acting irrationally more and more often and Lemillion was a rash person too, even if he was pretty smart. The two were talking amongst themselves as they thought about Izuku's punishment. In the end they asked him to 'think on his actions' and how they could have endangered innocents. Izuku didn't fight them. He handed his gun over and his badge, not saying a word as he left the office.

A whole month of no crime fighting. Part of him relished the break.

Mei sighed. "Come here Izu-kun." He did as he was told. She guided him to the armour and pointed to the legs. "What do you think?"

He cupped his chin. "Definitely more streamlined than he's used to. Why the change?"

"He's been meaning to upgrade for a while. The weight that comes with the extra armour does hell on his joints. His back needs the break too."

Izuku saw the key part of the suit when he came in the night before. The rest of the suit was armour, but the spine was key, far more like an exoskeleton with grasping pins. They were probably compatible with the hero's implant, something made by Mei herself back when she was at UA.

"I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"He better, I'm giving him a discount."

Izuku smiled and inspected the plates waiting for assembly. There were going to be gaps in his suit in favour of mobility, but Mei covered it with tapered ends at the joints. They'd still cover things like his elbows whilst not limiting movement and possibly allowing for extra options during combat…

Something chuckled by his ear and he flinched. It was Mei. "I knew having you here would be a good idea. As much as you deny it, you wanna make babies as much as I do." She moved in close and Izuku's heart stammered. Her arm settled onto the desk, trapping him. She looked into his eyes, like she'd done so many times before, knowing he wasn't always good with physical contact.

He blinked and swallowed hard, then she was moving back, tool in hand. "Just had to grab that."

He was rooted, heart slowing down. For a second he thought they would finally cross the line. He needed to get some air. He turned tail and looked for a coat he no longer had. "I'm going out."

"You know I didn't mean it, Izuku."

"I know, but this place doesn't have any windows and I need to breathe."

She paused, checking his face, goggles over her eyes. "Okay. Just don't get into any trouble."

The light burned his eyes for a good minute when he left the workshop. He stumbled, eyes squinted as much as they could without them being closed. When everything corrected he noticed the way people were moving slowly, gathering at TVs in shop windows and around newsstands. Some were crying, others were shouting.

"I can't believe it…"

"Impossible…"

"All those people…"

"Glad the bastards who did it met their justice!"

Heroes in the monitor stations were tense, eyeing the crowds with mistrust, Lemillion's sidekicks as jittery as ever. Izuku eased his way through a crowd to see the TV.

His stomach dropped.

Censored footage played, but Izuku could get the gist. Scenic shots of bloodied walls, pictures of suspects, descriptions of weapons used, numbers of deaths and seriously injured, a collage of those who had fallen. The Cube had been a scene of a massacre. The Cube was where Shinso was last night.

Izuku pushed through the crowd and pulled out his phone, hitting the speed dial of his friend.

"_I'm busy. Leave a message if you need me._"

Izuku called again, sweating, the street melting like a water coloured painting.

"_I'm busy. Leave a message if you need me._"

He tried again.

"_I'm busy…_"

Again.

"_...if you need me._"

"You're not looking too good mister."

That voice. Izuku's eyes crawled down to his side where a teenage girl in a wide-brimmed sun hat was peering up at him with a smile. Her red eyes pierced through his heart.

"Maybe you should sit down."

She guided him somewhere - the world was still slipping away - and sat him down. Wood. A bench. In a park? How far had she pulled him by the arm? Being stationary, things started to come back into focus.

"There, you're looking better already." She was coming into focus too, the leader of the cult he met the night before. How had she found him so quickly? "I was worried. I'm happy I've finally got to meet you, Midoriya Izuku."

"You know my name?" Okay, it was time to start working again now brain. Think, categorise, push everything else back, throw the panic away. She's crucial, you can learn more, you can stop whatever she has planned. "Or maybe I should be saying how long for?"

She smiled wider and she looked every part the innocent, beautiful teenager. She still wore the same dress. A small horn kept her hat at a picture perfect tilt. She could be an idol. "You've always been smart, Midoriya-san. You wouldn't believe how happy I was when you finally found us."

So it was planned? If so, they didn't leave an obvious bread trail. They needed him to take his time, to think, to give themselves time to plan and get things in motion. Which meant… "I was the start of your plan. That speech… You knew I was going to be there that night. That also means you know what I would have done with the evidence I got."

"We've had our plans for a while, Midoriya-san, but even _we_ didn't think you'd escape. We were supposed to have this chat a lot sooner." She looked to the mourning crowds and the tilt of her lips became smug. "Nevertheless, it worked out all the same."

"You planned the attack."

"Not me personally. I'm merely the voice of the coming age. Me and you, Midoriya, we're insignificant in the grand scheme."

"So what's the purpose of this talk if it's all insignificant? What's stopping me from taking you down now? They might even let me back in the office."

Her eyes gleamed, glad for the danger. "One thing: you have no idea what my quirk is. Another is all the people before you." He followed her eyes to spots in the crowd. Come civilians didn't seem as innocent anymore. "I don't want to hurt anyone Midoriya-san. You don't either. That's what we have in common. Another thing is we refuse to let others dictate our destiny."

He shook his head. He knew what was coming next, it was a common tactic for the new age of villains.

"I want you with us Midoriya-san. With me. A lot of your quirkless brothers and sisters have done the same. Together we can change everything. A world without suffering."

He scoffed. "You know, at the end of it all, even Shigaraki dropped his whole 'world without suffering' angle. He just wanted destruction. You want the same."

"It must be destroyed to start again. Rebirth. You wouldn't know how beautiful it is until you've experienced it yourself. To see your life flash before your eyes, only to become one again, fresh, clean, new. It's the greatest gift father has ever given me."

The implications were deep, too deep for him to delve into completely. Her history, if it was true and not some mad delusional rambling, sounded full of abuse, something that was even worse in a society of quirked people. You could hurt people a lot more than with just your fists.

"You know, a world without suffering does seem nice; could have used it when I was a kid. But the world is sometimes cruel, and no one was there to help me when I needed it. I had to help myself." He looked into her eyes. "I think you're the same. No one saved you, but you didn't save yourself."

"You don't think I tried?!" She snarled. Her horn glowed. The air electrified, Izuku's skin tingled, hair raising. There were a few tense seconds before she sat back, an emotionless mask settling neatly. "It doesn't matter in the end. None of it does."

They both looked out to the milling crowds, finally going about their day. They needed to move on, joy was the best replacement for misery. People had a lot of practice with it over the years.

"Your friend Lemillion raided our factory last night. They found nothing of course, we were ready to move. But they were distracted. They're ten steps behind. You're about five. You can help us resolve this without bloodshed. We don't need quirks in the end Midoriya-san, we need great minds like your own."

It was like a script. They weren't her words. They were what she was told to say. Her words had weight, her words rose and fell with passion.

"What do you think about that, Midoriya? A place based on the worth of a person, not their genes. What do you think?"

She was a puppet. Someone was pulling her strings. Her visions weren't her own, her words weren't her own. She was, as she said, reborn as someone new.

Izuku rested his chin on steepled fingers and looked ahead. "I think you need saving." She gasped but he didn't look. The bench creaked as she stood, but he didn't look. Her sandaled feet hurried away, but he didn't look. Something clicked into place in his heart and a determined frown narrowed his eyes.

She needed saving, the city needed saving. And he wouldn't stand by as it all came crumbling down. He needed to be on the case again.

* * *

_Togata Mirio - 12:30 - Sunday_

His office was a well oiled machine. People moved, papers were filed, alarms were sounded and responses were made. He hoped Sir Nighteye would be proud. He hoped All Might would be proud.

He knew he wasn't.

He slipped last night, took the bait. The hideout was empty, not a trace left behind. It was used, to be sure, but there. Was. Nothing. His hand sank into his desk. Getting mad made it hard to control his quirk.

So many had died because he wasn't around to help. So many had died because of Midoriya's hesitation. The green bastard had been getting too big for his boots, too confident. And others had to pay for it.

Warm arms draped around his shoulders, the faint scent of blueberries catching his nose. Blue hair danced at his side as her lips pressed against his cheek. "You shouldn't be here Mirio," Nejire said. "You need sleep."

"I'll get sleep."

"We both know you don't mean that. I'll have to use my wifely powers to get you to bed. Did you know workaholism kills a lot of people a year?"

"A lot of people isn't a statistic."

"Neither's brooding in your office."

"How does that connect in any way?" He turned his chair to face his wife who was standing there is all her heroic glory. That being amazingly adorable while still balanced and ready to move at any second. Just seeing her put him at ease. A rock in the storm that was the last ten years of his life.

"It makes you confused so you tell me what's going on in that plain head of yours."

He sighed and sagged. "This whole thing… it's just a mess. These new villains, the club shooting, Midoriya…"

"Midoriya? Izuku-kun?" She leaned forward. "Why put him into the same sentence as those things? He's your friend."

"Is he? He was awfully reluctant to tell me about his case."

"You know you don't mean that. It sounds like you blame him and I know in your heart you don't." She brought his face up. "You've been under a lot of stress, I know, but All Might and Nighteye wouldn't want this. You don't have to pretend you can be everywhere at once."

"I'm supposed to be."

"Well you can't. You're just human. You're my human. And I don't want my human breaking because he was too stupid to stop for a break once in a while."

"I don't know what else to do." He had tried so hard to rebuild the country after he took down Shigaraki, the then new holder of All for One. He made the biggest agency, he policed as much as he could. He made the monitors. There was a country-wide grid of protection that caught villains before they could commit a crime. It was the safest they had ever been. But it wasn't enough. He would have to try harder.

"You do what you can. And you can't do that without rest, or friends. Honestly, you're getting worse than Tamaki was."

He chuckled. He wasn't getting that bad was he? Maybe a rest was in order. After he caught the villains. "I'll do this one last thing. Then we can have a holiday. Just us." Maybe they could try for a little one again.

She smiled. "I'd like that."

Then it was decided. He'd flush the villains out of whatever hole they lived in and bring them to justice.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading and thanks for reading the last chapter and leaving some thoughts. It'd be great if you did the same again. This was a little intense to write, but that's what happens when I write before bed. I think I write better at that time anyway. Hope you enjoyed!


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